


Five Times Harry and Draco Were Separated, and One Time They Were Together

by Kasena



Series: Game On [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M, Magic Mirrors, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21599098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kasena/pseuds/Kasena
Summary: Harry isn't sure what to think when he starts hearing Draco's voice throughout Grimmauld Place. Then, he can't imagine what life would be like without it.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: Game On [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1545865
Comments: 4
Kudos: 119
Collections: Drarropoly 2.0 - A Drarry Game/Fest





	Five Times Harry and Draco Were Separated, and One Time They Were Together

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** No one has seen or heard from him in years. So why does Harry keep hearing the ranting, raving, whispering and wailing cries of Draco Malfoy throughout 12 Grimmauld Place? Minimum: 488 words - Maximum: 908 words.  
>  **House Level:** Song Inspo: "Oh Lately It's So Quiet" by OK Go! - Minimum: 1288 words - Maximum: 1812 words.  
>  **Hotel Level:** Choose either 1) **the 5 times + 1 format** -OR- ~~2) Incorporate the song lyrics.~~ Minimum: 4128 words - Maximum: 4882 words.
> 
> This work is a part of Drarropoly 2019! Curious? You can find info on it [here!](https://gameofdrarry.tumblr.com/post/188735729910/interdepartmental-memorandum-after-the-success-of)

##  **One**

The first time it happens, it wakes Harry up out of his sleep. He had been dreaming — not nightmares, for once — he thought maybe he’d been playing Quidditch against Voldemort while Hermione was the Snitch? It had been a very strange dream, one that he’d been more than eager to leave. But the screams that greeted him were no more pleasant than the dream he had been wrenched out of.

He leapt up out of bed, grabbing and fumbling for his wand. Now that he was awake and listening, the screaming seemed a lot more like wailing. Like someone crying large, heart-wrenching sobs that came from deep inside of them. The only problem with that image was that Harry and Kreacher were the only ones that lived in Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

Slowly exiting his bedroom, he looked around. So far, nothing, but the cries were starting to get quieter. They were starting to really sound like sobs now. With a chill shuddering itself up and down his spine, he realized that they sounded incredibly familiar, even though it had been a long time since he had heard that voice, or seen the person that said voice belonged to.

Hurrying through the house, he made his way up to the third floor. It seemed he was getting closer to the source of the noise, as he walked down the hall. Finally outside of the far door that he rarely ventured through, Harry was surprised to be greeted by the sight of Kreacher outside the room. Alright, that meant then that it wasn’t the old elf. “Kreacher?”

He turned to him. “Master Harry, there is being much noise within.”

“Right,” Harry said, nodding gruffly. “I think I figured that part out for myself.” He didn’t want to overreact, but… “When I give you the signal, I want you to firecall the Aurors to come over.” When Kreacher nodded, Harry was careful to reach out and open up the door to the small storage room.

To Harry’s surprise, the room was… fairly empty. Aside from something large covered with a tapestry. For a moment, he thought maybe it was another Walburga portrait, but this one was… The cries didn’t sound like her enraged howling. This was something sorrowful and painful that ripped at his heart.

Creeping forward quietly, Harry rose a hand to touch the tapestry. It was weathered, like someone before him often did the same thing as he pulled it back to reveal what lay beneath. His eyes widened when he saw a  _ mirror _ in front of him. And the only problem was that the mirror didn’t reflect his own image. No, instead it was reflecting one Draco Malfoy, whom was crouched on the ground, hand covering his mouth as he sobbed, staring down at the floor. From what Harry could see, it looked like he was somewhere in Malfoy Manor, but that didn’t explain why there was a two-way mirror from Malfoy Manor to Grimmauld Place.

That also didn’t explain why Draco Malfoy was sitting in front of it and sobbing, like that time from so long ago… Harry finally cleared his throat. “Malfoy?” Because it didn’t make sense. It had been three years since Hogwarts had been rebuilt, and no one had seen hide nor hair of him. Harry heard that the Malfoy elves were sent to shops on his behalf for anything he needed. But for the most part, most people were sure he’d either left the country entirely, or just curled up and died somewhere.

When he heard Harry’s voice, just like so long ago, his head snapped up and the two of them were staring at each other before his eyes widened. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

“I’m… not there?” He looked around the room. Kreacher was still waiting at the door frame for Harry’s signal. “This is a… two-way mirror? Magical mirror of some kind… Are you alright?”

Draco rubbed at his face, turning away. Harry didn’t think that he was going to answer, until finally, “No,” he said, still not looking at Harry. “My mother’s just passed. Since the war, she’s been… ill. I’ve been taking care of her, but it seems it only delayed the inevitable.”

Oh. So he’d just lost his mum. And with his dad in Azkaban probably for the rest of his life… Draco’d practically lost both of his parents. “Sorry. About that.”

“You said this was a magical mirror? How did you find it?”

Startled by the sudden change in topic, Harry was taken off guard. “Oh, uh… Well, I heard you. Actually woke me up. It’s, uh… Apparently in my house? It’s probably been here a while and I just never bothered to notice.”

“I see.” He looked… God, he looked awful. “Is…” Harry bit at his tongue. “Do you think you’ll be alright?”

Draco shook his head. “Most likely? Not.”

Right. Harry should have expected that. He nodded. “I, uh… I’ll give you some privacy.”

“Thank you, Potter.”

##  **Two**

Somehow, it started something. Roughly once a week, Draco would be there, ranting and raving about how horrible the world was, and how it had dealt him a bad hand from the beginning. The first time, Harry sat there, taking it in before finally bursting, “At least you grew up with parents that cared about you.”

That cut off whatever it was that Draco was going on about. Harry wasn’t even sure he’d known he was  _ there. _ Then he scoffed, drawing back. “And are you implying that that is  _ my _ fault?”

“No. My point is that it could have been a lot worse.”

Draco just waved him off. “What do you know? Your life since the war has only gotten better. Mine has only gotten worse with each passing day.”

“Oh, yeah, lounging around the manor must be really hard for your royal majesty.”

“Why are you even here?!” For once, Draco had a point. Why  _ was _ Harry there? He could just put a silencing spell on the room, and leave him to it. Never come in.

He decided on what felt like the safest answer, finally, “Cause it’s fun to annoy you, Malfoy. You make it easy.”

The two of them, that day, had bickered back and forth about every little thing. From each other’s houses, to the friends they had growing up, to their appearances. But… It was nice, in a lot of ways. It felt like Harry was a kid again, and he hadn’t felt that way in a really long time.

When he finally stood up and walked away, it felt like he could stand a little stronger. He’d just gone toe to toe with Draco Malfoy again. And it had felt good.

##  **Three**

Of course, it was Harry next in front of the mirror, ranting a little bit. But it couldn’t be helped really. After the kind of day he’d had… Could anybody be really surprised? He wasn’t all that surprised when Draco stepped into the sitting room and looked to the mirror. “What are you doing? I can hardly think straight with all your blabbering on.”

“A wedding. A  _ wedding! _ We’re barely adults, and they’re already having a wedding?”

Draco sighed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. “What are you going on about now?”

“Ron and Hermione are having a wedding. I’m still single, and they’re about to have a  _ wedding. _ ”

He watched Draco nod. “I suppose I can’t be all that surprised. I’ve seen the papers. They’re constantly working together.”

“Working together. Living together. Snogging together. Apparently getting married together.” Harry shook his head again. Married.  _ Married. _ His two best friends were getting married, and what was he doing? He barely knew what he wanted to do with his life, let alone who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. But apparently Ron and Hermione already had that all figured out. Wasn’t that fantastic for them?

“Mm, yes, I believe I understand. Pansy’s already been widowed once.” Once? Harry’s head shot up to look at him.

Finally, he snorted, because that couldn’t not be a joke. “Widowed once, huh? How many is she planning on, then?”

Draco wasn’t laughing. That made Harry somewhat worried when the blond only gave a shrug. “I’m not entirely sure. Blaise’s mother finally stopped after seven. Any more may draw the wrong sort of attention, of course, but any less and she’ll feel inadequate. You know how women are,” he said, waving it off like he hadn’t just implied that one if his friends killed her own husband and planned to do it again.

Just the way he delivered it all, so deadpan and serious, it felt… It felt like they were both in on a joke. Together. Harry couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever felt that way with Draco. So he left. A good, full-belly laugh that he normally only gave when he, Ron, and Hermione went out for drinks together. It felt good to laugh like that. It felt like he’d been worrying too much lately. He felt a lot better to laugh like that. “Sorry,” he finally managed to say, wiping at the corner of his eye where a tear was threatening to roll down his cheek. “I can’t say that I do know how women are.”

When he managed to get a good look at Draco, he was staring at him like he’d lost his mind. Not that Harry could blame him, of course. He felt a bit mad, himself. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t. The women of your own social circle at least seem to be much more sane than within my own.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far, Malfoy. They just don’t go so far as to murder husbands and take their riches.”

“I  _ never _ said murder,” Draco was quick to point out, even as Harry saw a smile quirking at the corner of his lips that Harry had quickly started to dissassocite with ‘evil doings and plannings.’

“Yeah. I guess not.” Harry nodded to him, still smiling while his stomach ached. “Thanks, Malfoy. This… This really helped.” When Draco gave him a returning nod, Harry left the room and headed to the kitchen, where he filled out his RSVP for Hermione and Ron’s wedding.

##  **Four**

Just like every Monday, at about seven in the evening, Harry made his way to the mirror room. It was nice, to have a new bit added in to his routine. And this… This whatever it was that he had with Draco. That was nice, too. He felt like he was learning a lot more about the man than he could have ever expected to when he was a kid.

Today, however, he held a copy of the Daily Prophet in his hands as he entered the room. He closed the door behind himself and read the paper out loud. “ _ After years of radio silence, Draco Malfoy finally surfaces in what seems to be a routine shopping visit to Diagon Alley. _ ”

Draco immediately groaned, putting a hand to his face. “Please, I do not need you to remind me of that disaster. I could hardly move around the alley. Between the paparazzi wanting to know every miniscule detail of what nefarious deeds I had been up to in the last three years, and the other wixen shopping and keeping their children close lest I sacrifice them in some dark ritual, it was an absolutely horrid day.”

Harry crossed his arms, not willing to believe him. “You’re joking.” When they were growing up, Draco had loved nothing more than to be in the spotlight. There was no way he had changed so much as to want nothing to do with it.

“I am not.” Draco ran a hand through his hair, throwing a wry smirk to Harry. “It gets quite tiring, people staring at you as though you’re the incarnation of pure evil.”

Thinking about it, he nodded. “Yeah. Guess so.” It had never gotten that bad when everyone had turned against him, at least. “What were you doing out in Diagon Alley?”

“I was picking up potion ingredients for myself, and getting some robes tailored. I haven’t gotten a good pair of proper robes in some time, so some of mine have grown old and worn. I’m afraid I may be falling out of fashion.”

“You would be worried about that, wouldn’t you?” Harry laughed, watching Draco grin at him. He was a prick, but it was only now that Harry started to realize that he was a funny prick. “Well, you’re preaching to the choir. I’ve started putting on glamour charms whenever I want to go out anywhere.” He leaned forward on his toes a bit. “Did you visit Wizard Wheezes?”

Draco looked at him before looking to the ground and shaking his head. “No. I have a feeling I would be even less welcome there.”

Harry bobbed his head. “Maybe. You never know until you try though, do you?”

Looking like he was short circuiting a bit, Draco stared at him before finally scoffing. “Well, you would say that, wouldn’t you? Don’t you think it’s a bit childish, anyhow? We’re adults, it’s a bit unseemly to be shopping at a student’s joke store.”

“Maybe.” He saw that look on Draco’s face that he often saw. That one where he was getting frustrated with Harry, and he was going to say something like how annoying he was or-

“Has anyone ever told you you are incredibly aggravating?” Or that.

He chuckled. “It might have been mentioned once or twice.”

Draco crossed his arms. “Yes, well, you might do well to take heed of such words. They seem to prove rather accurate.”

“You would say that, wouldn’t you?”

“And what makes you say that?”

“That’s just the way you are. So. What’s going on with Blaise? Isn’t he with Dean and Seamus.”

That drew a sigh out of him. “I was under that impression, at least, but… Well, that situation seems much more complicated. He’s not entirely sure what to do with them. And of course I’m sure you know that he would murder me if I told you, but he’s not ready for the commitment. He appreciates the freedom he has right now, and believes that they’re trying to tie him down. Of course, they are, yes, but I don’t believe it’s anywhere near the terror he believes it to be.”

“Yeah. Definitely.” Harry nodded along. “You know, Ginny and Luna are together? Have been a year or two now.”

To his surprise, Draco only gave an affirmative hum. “Yes, Luna and I often have tea together on Saturdays. Or, lacking that, we mail once a week to keep the connection alive.”

Huh. Guess that made sense. Luna had mentioned Draco once or twice, but only ever in passing. Never really enough to bring the blond back to the forefront of Harry’s mind. Maybe that had been on purpose… “Well that’s good. I’m glad you’re branching out.”

Draco opened his mouth to respond before he tilted his head, looking elsewhere. “Excuse me, I have to go. It sounds like our elf has dinner prepared.”

Rather than correcting him on using ‘our’ Harry just waved him off. “You need to food. You’re practically skin and bones.”

“I don’t want to hear a word from you. Have a good night.”

“You too.”

##  **Five**

Harry shouldn’t have been surprised. Should he have? Maybe he should have. But then he shouldn’t have. That was just how his life went. When things started to look alright, they went horribly, terribly wrong all over again.

In the night, he tossed and turned. He had thought that maybe now that he was an adult and it had been a few years since the war, the nightmares might finally stop, or at least they would stop being so goddamned terrified. No, that didn’t seem to be the case. Instead, it only seemed like they got  _ worse. _

He was often wrapped in the dark and shadows of the Forest of Dean while he watched the Battle of Hogwarts go horribly wrong. All around him, people fell, and their ghosts rose. His parents, the Weasleys, Hermione, Luna, all of their ghosts rose to tell him it was  _ his _ fault they were dead. He was the Chosen One, he was the Savior of the Wizarding World, so  _ why hadn’t he saved them? _

Tonight was so much worse than any other night, though. This time, he watched Riddle torture Draco until Draco finally dropped dead, and he was rising. “ _ I should have known you weren’t reliable. I should have known you wouldn’t save me. Why would you? I’m your enemy, aren’t I? Why would you ever want to save me? _ ”

Harry tried to rasp out some kind of answer. An explanation, a denial, an excuse,  _ anything. _ “ _ No, I- _ ”

“ _ Yes, _ ” he hissed back at him, then he turned into Nagini, and Harry watched the snake shrivel up and die. He very nearly cried right then and there.

Thrashing and flailing, Harry awoke and nearly panicked when his limbs seemed caught and tangled — until he fell out of his bed and onto the floor, his blanket limp and lifeless beneath him. Taking a moment to take a few deep breaths, he stared up at the blurry ceiling before getting to his feet. He grabbed his wand and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, hurrying to the mirror room.

“Draco? Draco?” It was stupid, and it didn’t make much sense, but he had to make sure that he didn’t hate him. He had to be  _ sure _ that Draco didn’t believe anything that his dream had told him.

Harry’s calls soon drew Draco to the mirror from where it looked like he himself had rolled out of bed. “Harry? What on Earth are you doing? It’s four in the morning, and…” Draco stared at him a moment, having rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Where are your glasses?”

“Hey- Do you hate me?”

Draco drew back at the question. “ _ What? _ What kind of a question is that to ask me at four in the-”

“ _ Do you hate me? _ ”

The silence was tense, and it felt like it was stringing Harry’s nerves on a wire before finally Draco told him, “No, I do not. Now will you tell me what this is about?”

“Do you maybe resent me? Do you think I should have tried harder to save people?”

He watched Draco sit down on the floor, and absently followed. “I think you did your best and that it was too much to expect a seventeen-year-old to be able to save the entirety of the Wizarding World.” Hearing his answer, it finally helped to calm him down, and Draco was giving him a soft smile. “I suppose you had a nightmare? I often fall prey to them as well.”

Harry gave him a nod. “Yeah. Yeah, it was… It was a really bad one. Sorry. For getting you up in the middle of the night.”

“Are you feeling better?” The question took Harry off guard, but he took a moment to think it over and... 

“Yeah. I think I am. Thanks, Draco.”

“Of course,” the blond said, dipping his head slightly. “In the morning, I have an appointment with a Mind Healer. I would suggest that you set your own appointment as well. It sounds like you have your own demons to face.”

A Mind Healer… It was a good idea. He couldn’t put this all on Ron and Hermione, after all. “I’ll definitely think about it. Sorry for waking you.”

“Anytime.” Draco just smiled at him as he stood up. “Good night, Harry.”

“You go ahead. I think I’m gonna be up a while. Night,” he tacked on after a second thought, and watched Draco leave, his sleep robe floating delicately behind him.

##  **Plus One**

Draco wasn’t able to visit with Harry very often, anymore. In between his Mind Healer sessions, he had started to venture out into the rest of the world more and more. The papers took to that fairly quickly, but once it became clear that he was just shopping and being a regular person, they dropped it to instead focus on something more interesting.

Harry was happy for him, he really was. But then, there was that jealous, selfish part of him that was upset that he was losing time that could have been used talking to Draco for Draco to go and… Fuck, he didn’t even know. Some dark, insidious part of him couldn’t help but draw up the image of Draco in someone else’s bed. Of course it was stupid. He would have told Harry. But these days, he barely came to the mirror, and the mirror was so much quieter for it.

It wasn’t like there was anything between them, but Harry couldn’t help thinking that maybe he had missed his chance…? Maybe he should have tried harder to… To be his friend? He didn’t even know, right now. All he  _ did _ know was that now that Draco was a constant in his life, he didn’t ever want to worry about losing that.

So he had sent a letter to him. Just a small note, asking for Draco to be at the mirror at their usual time that Saturday. Harry didn’t entirely have a plan in mind, but he knew that he needed to… What was it Draco had said? ‘Keep the connection alive.’ That was a pretty good turn of phrase for it, when Harry thought about it. So at their regular time, Harry sat down in front of the mirror, and waited for Draco.

Harry felt like he’d waited at the mirror for a few hours when Draco finally came in the room. “Sorry, our session ran a bit over. It was actually nice, you know? A place to air any grievances without thoughts of recompense-”

“Come over for dinner.” The moment the words were out of his mouth, Harry wanted to take them back, because he hated interrupted Draco — which he’d learned early on Draco hated more than nearly anything — and it had caused Draco’s eyes to widen to near dinner plates as he stared at Harry.

Finally, he cleared his throat, “What did you say?”

Right. Okay, Harry. Now was not the time to fuck things up here. “I asked you to come over to dinner.” That sounded fine, right? Just two mates having dinner together. It wasn’t anything more than that, despite his pounding heart in his ears, and his sweating, slightly-shaking hands in his lap. “I thought… Maybe it would be easier for us to talk to each other in person, rather than in front of a mirror all the time? Might be better, you know?”

Draco looked down at himself. “I… Well, I’m hardly dressed-”

“You look fine.” Right. Because friends said that to each other. “Just Floo on over. I’ve already altered the wards to let you in. You don’t need to change.”

Still flustered and grappling for words, Draco finally gave him a stilted nod, looking around as though expecting someone else to say something, even though they were the only two. “Alright… I’ll… be there in a few minutes.” And he was walking out of the room.

Rushing to his feet, Harry brushed his hair back. Draco was coming over. For dinner. This could be really good. They would be able to talk in person. Draco could tell him about everything, and it felt like the two of them maybe… Might be able to connect more?

He hurried down the stairs and realized he needed to clean the kitchen and the sitting room-

Before he could pick up anything, the Floo was roaring and Draco was stepping through. Looking around the sitting room, Harry winced. “Sorry about the mess… It was a bit of a last-minute decision.” His robes were tossed across the couch, he had a few books laying open haphazardly across the coffee table and the couch, and his shoes had obviously been kicked off on his way in.

While he looked around, Draco was quiet, which of course made Harry worry that maybe a mistake had been made, maybe he had misstepped somewhere and misjudged where their relationship was and Draco was expecting just some food and a drink-

“It’s lovely.” Shooting up to look at him, he saw that Draco had finally started to smile as he looked around before looking back at Harry. “So. You said something about dinner?”

Dinner. He had said- “Right- Right. Actually, I typically cook right around now. You can… come sit in the kitchen while I cook? If you’d like?”

“That sounds like it’d be nice.” Yeah… It did, didn’t it?


End file.
